Today, over 30 Chicago aldermen voted to put hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars towards luxury real estate developments on the north side and a militarized police force on the west side.

These are the same public officials who have,implicitly or explicitly, supported Mayor Rahm Emanuel's repeated claims that there was no money in Chicago to keep Black schools open, provide child care to thousands of working families, or invest in public jobs and mental health services to reduce violence.

In 2019, UWF endorsed three incumbents who today stood up to Rahm Emanuel and voted against the Wall Street financiers, luxury real estate developers, and military contractors who are driving working-class people of color out of our city: Sue Sadlowski Garza, Carlos Ramirez Rosa, and John Arena.

In April, we will grow their ranks with candidates like Rossana Rodriguez, Jeanette Taylor, Byron Sigcho Lopez, and Rafa Yanez, who showed up at City Hall today to show their support.

The scene today at City Hall--hundreds of Black and Latinx activists locked out of council chambers so that Rahm Emanuel and his rubber-stamp aldermen could do the bidding of the corporate elites who want to remake our city--shows more than ever why we need to wrest governing power from their hands, and return it to the people. That's what we're here to do.

We will remember the names of those who voted yes today, and we will be back in 2023.